PCMCIA COMBO card problem

[Hiddendragon]

Hi there.
I'm new to this forum and hoping you guys can help me.
I have a Dell Inspiron 2650 laptop (pentium 4 mobile, 1.6GHZ, 256 DDR RAM) running Windows XP(Home). I bought the laptop 2 years ago, and because it has neither USB 2.0 ports nor Firewire port, (two 1.1 ports), I decided to get a PCMCIA COMBO card to add the speed recently. I plugged the card into the slot and watched while XP recognized on my "safely remove harddrive" thing...but it doesn't do anything as my external HD won't open whilist it does on the USB port 1.1. I have installed SP1,and have installed the ALI drivers(V1.52) provided in the CD, I even tried everything that you recommended in the other threads(especially the one to "crazyzoop84" who seemed to have exactly the same problem as I do), but those actions didn't work for my laptop either. Urgently need your help! Please!

Below are some information you require,

The XP HOME was a clean install in the beginning;
In Device manager...nothing shows yellow ! or ?;
The PCMCIA card branded as "O2Micro OZ6912 CardBus controller";
The manucfacturer of ALI card shows "ACER Labs Inc".

In Safely Remove Hardware it shows,

OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller;
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller;
ALi PCI to USB Open Host Controller (THESE ARE ALL WORKing PROPERLY in Properties.)

[hudsonsmith]

Welcome to windrivers hiddendragon. Have you tried the ALi integrated driver? ftp://www.ali.com.tw/driver/Integrated207.exe
Have you tried installing SP2?
Also, see here: http://www.usbman.com/Guides/ali_tips_and_tricks.htm

[Hiddendragon]

Welcome to windrivers hiddendragon. Have you tried the ALi integrated driver? ftp://www.ali.com.tw/driver/Integrated207.exe
Have you tried installing SP2?
Also, see here: http://www.usbman.com/Guides/ali_tips_and_tricks.htm

Thanx for your answer Hudsonsmith. I have tried to install the 207 driver you suggested. But it still doesn't work. Besides, during the installation, there was a window jumping out "Windows XP SP1 has USB 2.0 controller inbox driver. Do you want to install this USB 2.0 Controller driver?", because I selected "yes" last time when I installed 205 so I selected "no" this time, I suppose I did right.
Regarding SP2, I checked the "Add and Remove Programms" in the Control Panel and found I have installed these"Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q819696" and "Windows XP Service Pack 1a". Are these what you asked?

P.S. Don't you think theres anything to do with the "O2Micro OZ6912 CardBus controller" which I found in Device Manager regarding PCMCIA CARD.

Looking forward to your further reply.

[hudsonsmith]

There is a patch for the cardbus controller which you should install.
http://support.dell.com/support/down...4700&devlib=27

SP2 is available through windows update. It doesn't look like you have it.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx

[Hiddendragon]

There is a patch for the cardbus controller which you should install.
http://support.dell.com/support/down...4700&devlib=27

SP2 is available through windows update. It doesn't look like you have it.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx

Hi, I have tried installing the dell driver, but still it DONT work, btw, is this the newest version for the cardbus controller?

For SP2, I have also installed using Auto Updates which did take a while, but again, my HD can not be opened after plugging in the cardbus but it works on the USB 1.1.

I am desperately waiting for your further help, Hudsonsmith, comon, I know you can do it.

[hudsonsmith]

Try changing the driver for the cardbus controller to "Generic Cardbus Controller".

Also, have you tried deleting all usb controllers/devices in safe mode and letting windows redetect?

[addict]

I had this problem with a PCMCIA usb 2 card and a USB 2 powered HD. Seems the card was not giving enough power to the USB 2 Hard drive. Drive worked fine in the 1.1 ports though. Luckly my USB powered drive came with a cable that would draw power from a second USB port. Once that was plugged in no problem on the PCMCIA USB 2 ports.

[Hiddendragon]

Try changing the driver for the cardbus controller to "Generic Cardbus Controller".

Also, have you tried deleting all usb controllers/devices in safe mode and letting windows redetect?

Hi Hudsonsmith, do you know where I can find the right driver for "generic cardbus driver"? And I have to uninstall the old one before I install the new driver (if I find it), right?
Yes, I have tried doing what you advised but everytime the Windows detects exactly the same thing and shows they all work "properly".

Btw, thanks addict, I understand what you mean. But my PCMCIA card doesn't even recognise a flash pen drive(USB 2.0) which, obviously, doen't need that much "power" to open, and can be opened on USB 1.1.

This thing's really driving me crazy!

[hudsonsmith]

Properties/Update Driver/Install from a list/Don't search

[Hiddendragon]

Thankfully, after trying installing the driver over and over again, somehow the cardbus finally works, despite of a few confusing things.
But, new problem arises as my 256M bytestar USB 2 Flash Drive crashed the system when I plugged in whereas the external HD (USB 2) works fine now. Hudsonsmith, I very much appreciate your previously great help and now I am looking forward to your further solution to the new problem.